Dreams
by AndySixx66
Summary: What if Dawn never made it to the Grand Festival, and her dreams were shattered in a blink of an eye?


_"And the Winner_

_Of the Daybreak Contest_

_is..._

_Nando!"_

The crowd bursted into loud cheers as the fairly tall man strode his way up on the stage to accept the beautiful ribbon that each contest had deserved. "Thank you," he said as he accepted the ribbon. His two beautiful Pokemon stood tall and waved to the camera. Lopunny and Altaria both waved to the camera, smiles placed on their lips.

**_No..._**

**_"And that means..."_**

**_Please don't say it..._**

**_"The contest are over, so if you haven't got your fifth ribbon, I'm sorry, but you are ineligible to perform in the Grand Festival."_**

**_No..._**

**_"But there is always next year."_**

**_Don't say that._**

**_"Let's give Nando another round of applause!"_**

**T**he T.V showed Nando waving to the ground, a big grin on his face. He did it. He made it to the Grand Festival. Zoey, Nando, Kenny, even Jessilina, they all had made it to the Grand Festival. The last contest. The best contest. The goal to make Top Coordinator. Her dream. Her goal. All her friends made it. So why didn't she.

Dawnclutched her ribbon case as she looked at the one empty spot in the black felt that. She was so close, her dream was so close to becoming real, and then real**i**ty grabbed it by the hair and crushed it into dust. Never to be seen again. Why, just why? She practiced so hard, she learned new combinations just to impress the judges. But then, they didn't work as much when it came to battle. It wasn't even battle this time. Her appeal round, it just wasn't her best. She made a lot of mistakes, painful landings, and forgetting to command her Pokemon. Her Piplup and Buneary... they were... she couldn't even bring herself** to **think of that horrible memory.

Dawn stayed when most of the coordinators started packing up their stuff and leaving. The first thing Dawn was going to do, call her mom, apologize, and** stay **home moping. Her career was over, why would she try again? What if the same thing happened again? What if she lost, over and over again. She needed a back up plan. The blue-haired girl grabbed her yellow bag and shuffled her way out of the room. She wanted to get out of this stadium as fast as she could. Away from her crushed dreams.**  
**

* * *

"Dawn what happened out there?" Zoey hissed. She managed to catch up to her rival/friend and held her by the forearm so Dawn couldn't try to make a fast break away from her. "How could you be so reckless with your Pokemon?" Zoey held Dawn firmly in her place, even though the blunette desperately tried to free her arm.

Dawn shook her head, "I don't know alright!" She snapped, causing Zoey to take a step back. "I don't know what happened!" She screamed. She tugged her arm back and took a few steps away from the tomboy. "All I could think about was winning. My dream to become reality. To make my family proud of me." She sighed out a sob that hitched the back of her throat. "Then, he popped into my mind...I,"

"Dawn-"

"Stop!" She cried, she thrust her hands in front of her keeping the red-head girl from going any closer to her. "I don't want you pity! Okay? It was my own fault. I don't want you or anyone else telling me that it wasn't my fault, or blaming me for getting my own Pokemon hurt and screwing up my chances to become Top Coordinator."

Dawn looked back at Zoey, who had a saddened look on her face. Dawn held back a sob and she turned way and started running, "Just leave me alone!" She screamed. She left Zoey. She left her ribbon case on the ground. She left her friends. She left her forgotten dreams. She left her coordinator dress. She left her ideas. She left her happiness.

She left everything...

When he left her...

* * *

**[Flashback]**

_"Dawn," Ash said shakily. The two young friends sat by Lake Valor, feet both in the water as their Pokemon splashed about, having a great time. Brock was fixing food, and you know how everyone loves Brock's cooking. _

_Dawn smiled and turned her head to Ash. Sapphire eyes shimmering as the sun beamed on them. "Yes, Ash?" His stomach shook at the way she said his name. Like she was born to say Ash. It had the same effect on Dawn. Every time he called her name, her stomach would turn into knots and she sometimes stumbled on her words._

_"I-I plan on going to visit somewhere. Where I've never gone before, and I thought... Ya know, if you-"_

_"You want me and Brock to come with you?" She said cheerfully. She never wanted to stop traveling with Ash. They had so many moments, they were close to being a couple. They both knew that. But they were both afraid to say it out loud._

_Ash held back his breath and bit his tongue. How was he going to explain it to her? Explain to her that he was leaving. That he was leaving, and never coming back. He remembered being in a situation like this before, when he had to leave Misty, May and Max. Now he was leaving Dawn. And his friend who had been with him through thick and thin. Brock. He felt like if he left them, he leave everything. _

_But he didn't want to hold them back from their dreams. No. He wasn't like that. He was going to say it. He was going to tell them straight, set them straight, and he wasn't going to cry. Not this time. He would leave them, he would risk all that he had to reach his goal. And he wanted them to reach their own goal. So why couldn't he just blurt it out when he looked at Dawn. _

_"Actually," he squeezed out, "I plan on going alone, this time." He looked away from Dawn, afraid that if he saw those sapphire eyes fill with tears that he couldn't be able to follow his dreams. Plus, he didn't want to hold back Dawn from becoming something that she wanted to be for so long, just to give that up to follow him._

_Dawn swallowed. "B-but, why?" She questioned. Her eyes felt wet, she knew she wanted to cry. But she wasn't going to let show Ash her weak side. So instead she turned her head and frowned. "You know what?" She stood up. "You can go!" She screamed at him. Ash watched with his honey brown eyes. "You can get away from me! You can go be the hero for some other girl and forget about me!"_

_He stood up, eyes flashing. "Dawn I would never-"_

_"Just go!" She screamed. Her fresh tears fell down her face and she held in her sobs. She didn't want to cry, she wanted to run, but her body wouldn't obey her. She wanted to stop loving him, but of course, her heart would never obey her. She wanted to forget about him, but her brain said no. _

_Ash lowered his eyes, and his cap hide his face. He called his Pokemon, put on his shoes and looked at Dawn one last time. "Goodbye, Dawn." The horn of the boat rolled in and the screaming of little kids let Ash know that he had to get going soon. He said goodbye to Dawn and Brock's Pokemon. He said his friendly vows to his best friend, who he'd been through alot with. He paused when it came to Dawn._

_So he pulled out a small chain necklace with a heart pendant and placed it in Dawn's hands. "No need to worry." He said sadly. With Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash walked on the boat and waved goodbye to his friends as the boat rolled away from the dock. Brock waved and yelled at him to have fun, keep intact with him, and find out who is the hottest Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny._

_As soon as the boat was slowly disappearing to the horizon, Dawn ran down the dock and stared straight ahead. She gripped the necklace in her hand. She wanted to throw it. But it was apart of him. She didn't want to forget about him completely. No matter how much she wanted to. She wanted him out of her mind, but she loved him. And the sad truth was, she knew she would never stop loving him._

* * *

Dawn pressed her face in her hands as the train starting moving. She would be home soon. Where she could cry her heart out, even though she did, and her mother would be home. Her father would be back from his trip. She wouldn't see Kenny in a while because he made it in the Grand Festival, and she knew Barry was off with his own journey to become the strongest.

Zoey was still in the Festival, along with Nando. Lucas was probably busy helping Professor R. and his research on finding the next legendary. She knew her mom was planning to go on a family vacation, but Dawn would not go. Only her father and mother deserved to go. After embarrassing the Berlitz family. Why would she go out in public? She didn't want to ruin the name ever.

She shifted her position in the seat so her head slowly cradled between the small seats and the window, watching the scene pass by slowly. She closed her eyes, and imagined her life. When everything went wrong. When she injured her Pokemon. When she ruined her chances to become the best. When **he **ruined her chances to become the best. Top Coordinator. The only thing she could do is watch her friends obtain the goal that she always dreamed of. It was never going to happen.

Like she said...

When he left...

He took her happiness,

Dreams,

Hopes,

Wants,

And her heart,

Away.

* * *

**Tell me what you think of this, till next time bye! Also, I decided to make the Daybreak Contest the last contest to switch everything around. Sorry if it is OOC! But yeah, read and review. Bye!**

**-AndySixx66 :)**


End file.
